Ghostly Artworks Inspired by Saudi Arabian Censorship

The censorship in Saudi Arabia results in faces scribbled over in ads and magazines, and the country’s intense suppression of free speech have become a fraught field of inspiration for artists. Jowhara Al-Saud’s retort is influenced by the physical acts of government control themselves. Her process is a complicated one. She first takes analog photos (4X5s and 8X10s) and then scratches away at the negatives, erasing the details of her subject’s faces. The images are then printed in a darkroom and collaged with arbitrary backgrounds. What’s left is Out of Line, a series that attests both to Al-Saud’s meticulous process and the reality of censorship that inspires her work. Check out some of Al-Saud’s art below, and visit The Huffington Post for an interview with the artist.